Thumbnail and Extended Preview Generation Methods

When a digital resource is added or updated in the Virtual Ticket database, the system automatically generates a thumbnail image and an optional extended preview of the digital resource.

Within an extended preview the user gets an access to the detailed information about a digital file's individual elements, for example, text box and graphic (picture) box data. The ability of Virtual Ticket to generate a full-size, multipage extended preview for a digital resource depends on its type and, for some file types, on the availability of the extended information generated by a graphic application.

There are four different thumbnailing methods defined in the Virtual Ticket system and used to generate thumbnails and extended previews:

Get Preview - This method instructs the system to use the extended information (preview image) that was created when the digital file was originally saved from its native application. Note, that some graphic applications require their saving options to be properly set for the extended information to be generated.

Important! Get Preview is the most efficient and preferred method for generating thumbnail images and extended previews of digital files.

Sample - This method instructs the Virtual Ticket system to use internal procedures to sample the contents of the digital file and generate a thumbnail/extended preview.

Get Icon (for thumbnails only) - This method instructs Virtual Ticket to use the digital file icon assigned by the operating system as the thumbnail image. No extended preview will be generated if this method is used.

Use Standard Icon (for thumbnails only) - This method instructs the system to use a standard icon predefined in the Virtual Ticket database (or that you determine) to represent the thumbnail image of the digital file. No extended preview will be generated if this method is used.

Note: Use Standard Icon stores only one instance of the thumbnail in the database regardless of the number of digital files recorded in the system. As a result, it is the most space and time efficient method of thumbnailing.

Every file type registered in the Virtual Ticket system is associated with a set of thumbnailing methods that vary by file type: the Get Preview and Sample methods are not available for some predefined and all user-defined file types. When setting up each file type, you can specify the order in which these methods will be used based on how you want the system to handle files of that type.